TMNT: The Portal
by melina114
Summary: In our world, everyone knows that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles don't exist. They sure do exist in comics, TV-series, movies, on the internet, in the stores… but in reality? No way. At least that's what 16 year old Max thinks. But when he finds himself in the sewers of New York City, well what do you know? He sees something. Something that you don't see every day…
1. Lost

**Disclaimer:** ** _I don't own TMNT._**

When I slowly opened up my eyes, I couldn't see anything but darkness. It felt like my whole body was totally numb, because of all the pain it had caused. My vision was blurred, and I felt dizzy. Like I was going to throw up any second. A chilly breeze was cutting through the air, as I strained to look around me. It was night. It was already night! I had really no idea what I was doing here… At the beginning I didn't know what was going on at all, but then I came to my senses.

I was tied up in some kind of a lamp post. Even though I tried so hard to get myself out of there, I just couldn't feel any strength in my body to help me, like a robot running out of battery. My breathing was slow and heavy, and I felt sweat all over my body and face. The place was so silent, that I could hear my own heart beating so fast, like it was going to burst out of my chest somehow.

Suddenly I heard a few people talking and laughing too loudly from the distance of the street. I looked at them, but I couldn't discern them, because they were too far away and my eyesight was still sort of blurred. It felt like the whole universe was whirling around me. I barely watched them getting closer and closer to me, but I could tell that and they didn't look very friendly.

When they were close enough, one of them took me by my dirty T-shirt and said: "So… should we finish this?"

While I still didn't recognize his face, I certainly did recognize his voice. I knew who they were. The Yellow Snakes, New York City's street gang. They may sound normal and all, but those guys are assholes. Trust me. They like picking on everybody, beat everyone up until they get sent to the hospital. They steal money and other things from people, and they think it's really cool, but the only ones that believe they're cool is themselves. They see everyone below themselves. I wish I could prove them wrong, but I wish I knew how to fight back as well.

"Okay…" he continued with his raspy and creepy voice. "Let's get rid of you." The only thing I saw was a clenched fist against my face, before everything became black once more.

I had no clue where I was. I looked around, but it didn't look like anything I had seen before. I couldn't recognize it. I tasted puke on my tongue, so I started spitting the grossness out of my mouth.

I looked again into the darkness, and it began to slowly panic me. My dad and sister were probably waiting for me to come home, and I was nowhere to be found. Although I did hear water somehow from far off. Like someone taking a shower? I laughed at myself. Nah, why would anyone be taking a shower in the middle of nowhere?

I decided to get up and follow the sound, even though my whole body was in a strong pain, and everything was pitch-dark. It smelled sort of odd too. But where ever I was, I had to find a way home as soon as possible. After I blacked out, the Yellow Snakes probably took me to some weird place. Man, I wish I could chop their heads off anytime!

As I ran through the darkness, my legs felt more and more heavy each time I took a step. I felt like it was possible for me to just collapse any second any minute. My eyes felt pretty tired too, I could just close them in seconds, while keeping walking and walking.

It felt like hours, before something actually happened. My shoes were wet… there was water where I was stepping. My knees suddenly buckled, so I fell down. I touched the water, looked at it and smelt it. It wasn't just water… It was… I was in the sewers! They had dropped me in the sewers, those bastards. I genuinely needed a way out of here, but everything seemed black, it looked so hopeless! I was walking in circles and I simply couldn't navigate here. I was too tired to keep searching, and it felt like my whole body was screaming: "Pain, PAIN!" My stomach was shouting at me too. It said: "Food, I want food!" I really couldn't take it anymore, and I knew I wasn't getting any place with this.

I didn't know if it was real, when a white light totally blinded me, and disappeared a few seconds later. Right now I just didn't care.

 _I hope this is some kind of a weird dream,_ I thought just before my third blackout.

When I woke up the _I-don't-know-how-many-times_ time, I was definitely expecting the sound of water, and the smell of crap everywhere. But when I looked around, I was really, _really_ surprised. I saw furnitures, TV's, computers, snacks, punching bags… all over the place. It was like some sort of a home, but a really different one.

When nothing happened, and the place was wholly silent, I attempted to get up from the couch, but my body hurt too much already, so I literally gave up. I sighed and waited too long, before I discovered a sound coming nearby. My clothes were humid because of the water from the sewers and I literally smelled like shit. I felt cold and disgusting, and I wanted to do something now. I wanted to know what was going on. Where was I? Who had found me and had brought me to their home? As much as my body resisted to move a muscle, I knew that I just couldn't keep lying here until something happened, so I pushed myself to get up and walk towards the sound. When I got closer, the sound turned into voices. It came from a room. I put my best ninja mode on, walked towards the room and slowly leaned up against the door.

Someone was talking. It was hard to hear, but I nevertheless managed to hear some of it.

"... always say we should help people. That guy was totally beaten up and needed our help."

"Blah blah… Look, we can't keep him in our _secret_ lair! I say, we head to the hospital with him and…" a deep, angry voice said.

"I don't think he needs the hospital any longer," a third voice interrupted. It sounded calm. "I checked his wounds and damages. He'll be fine."

Afterwards there were 2-3 seconds of silence, when I heard another voice saying: "You did a good job, my sons. But we should not let many human beings see us. Not everybody can be trusted."

"Yes Sensei," I heard all of them say at the same time. I had no idea where I had ever heard those voices before, but they sounded _so_ familiar, that it all began to be creepy. I moved slowly away from the room and tried to escape, but I nearly tripped over a bag of chips, so it slowed me down. Before I could do anything else, the door went straight open, and we started staring at each other. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

It was... THEM.

"Oh, so you're already up," the one with the purple mask said.

"Hi!" the one with the orange mask began to say and stepped ahead. "We may look like freaks to you, but we found you in the sewers, and you looked pretty bad to be honest, so we brought you home, and eh…"

"Enough, you bonehead!" the red-masked one said and slapped him.

The one with the blue mask stepped forwards, and said: "Hi, I'm Leonardo. This is Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo. And this is our Sensei, Master Splinter."

I felt like my body was immobilized. I couldn't say anything or even _do_ anything, because in front of me, I saw the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and their so-called father, Master Splinter.


	2. Mysteries

"I… I can't believe it," was the first thing I ever said to them.

"Listen!" Raphael said and stepped towards me. "If you say anything about our existence to _anyone_ , I swear I'm gonna…"

"Cool it, Raph!" Leonardo said and laid his three-fingered hand on his shoulder to calm him down a little.

"Yeah dude, you wouldn't want him to be more freaked out than he already is," Michelangelo said with a huge grin on his face.

Donatello sighed and said: "I apologize for Raph's behavior… he's just a… hothead, you know. Don't take it personally."

"Who are _you_ calling hothead, you geek?!"

"Enough!" Master Splinter said very strict, and they immediately stopped doing what they were doing. Splinter stepped forwards and asked me: "What is your name and story, young one?"

"Well…" I started out. "I'm Max Payne. Actually, all I remember was being attacked by some Yellow Snakes, and I have no idea how I came to be in the sewers. I kind of blacked out there, and now I'm suddenly here talking to you guys."

"Wait a second…" Michelangelo said. "Some _Yellow_ _Snakes_? Do you literally mean some yellow snakes, you know with long bodies, have no arms and no feet and have weird long tongues? Or some street punk gang that's called the _Purple Dragons_?"

"Some street punk gang, that's called the Yellow Snakes…" I responded and thought about how weird all this was. I knew the Purple Dragons, but that was all fiction. Until now…

"Never heard of them before," Donatello mumbled silently.

When everyone kept silent, and they didn't say anything but just glared at me, I felt an urge to say something. "You know, this is kind of weird. It's just like… you shouldn't exist. I mean…"

I was suddenly interrupted by Leonardo. "Why don't you take a seat on the couch, while we explain everything that needs to be told?"

"Yeah…" Donatello agreed. "You look like someone that needs to take a rest."

They led me to the couch, and then I started talking again: "Actually I _know_ your story! It's just that… there has been made comics, TV-series and movies about you! Everyone knows who you are, but they also know that these comics and movies about you is fiction. You shouldn't exist… but you do! That's why I really don't understand this. I mean, this is CRAZY!"

They all stared very weird at me, while I was completely freaked out. I had no idea what to do… they probably wouldn't believe me.

"You've… heard about us?" Donatello asked and I nodded. There was a short silence until Michelangelo asked: "Are you saying that… we are FAMOUS?!"

I looked at him and replied: "Yeah, but…" He suddenly interrupted me with his breakdancing while he shouted: "YEAH WOO HOO! I KNEW THIS DAY WOULD COME!"

"But this doesn't make any sense," Donatello said. "There's no such thing. We're not famous. No one knows about us. You must be from another place..."

"Or maybe you've just hit your head really hard," Michelangelo suggested and Raphael threatened him by saying: "And you're gonna hit your head really hard too, if you don't shut your mouth!"

"Can you tell us where you come from, Max?" Leonardo asked.

I had no idea what to say. "From… earth?" They looked at me, like what I just said wasn't good enough. "From the USA? New York City…?"

Donatello broke the silence. "This is no use. It still doesn't make sense."

"Yeah," Raphael agreed. "What about… what _time_ do you come from?"

That was when I actually started to wonder if I was in the right place or time. I looked at all of them, one by one. They all looked extremely confused and curious.

"Maybe you're from another dimension!" Michelangelo suggested again, and everyone turned at him.

"Yeah," Donatello agreed, but looked surprised over Michelangelo's suggestion. "A dimension where we don't exist in reality, but in comic books and TV-series and movies…"

"I would totally read the comics!" Michelangelo interrupted.

"This is very strange," Splinter claimed, at the same time he stood up and began to walk towards his room. "I shall meditate on this matter further. I will tell, if I find out something important."

"Thanks…" I said and looked after him, while he slowly walked away. When Master Splinter left, Michelangelo said: "Okay! So, who's up for some video games?"


	3. The truth

I had been with Leo, Donnie, Raph and Mikey for days at their home now. I had been training Ninjutsu from Master Splinter, to know how to fight back, when the Yellow Snakes struck again. Or maybe even the Purple Dragons…

Nobody still didn't know how it could be possible that I just landed here. They started saying that I must've been from another dimension, and I probably couldn't do anything but agree. They had tried to get me home to where I live, but when I ringed the doorbells at my home, some other people appeared and claimed that they lived there, so basically I had no where to live. We had even tried to search: 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' on Donnie's computer, and even though there should come thousands of pictures, videos and websites up, there was nothing about them. Donnie had tried to hack into different computer systems, but it didn't seem like it was gonna work.

"We're famous in another dimension!" Mikey screamed. "Can you believe it?!"

"Shut up, Mike!" Raph said and slapped him on the head. "You're giving me a headache with all that stuff, ya know."

"Besides," Leo came into the conversation. "We're ninjas. We're not supposed to be famous, we have to stick into the shadows." He took up his Katana and did one of his cool ninja tricks. "That's what real ninjas do."

"Show off…" Raph mumbled and shook his head.

"This is very mysterious though," Donnie said still trying to find the answer to the whole thing. "Comics and TV-series about us?! It just doesn't make sense!"

"Whatever it is, we have to get Max to his real home," Leo said seriously, while he put his Katana back in its holder.

"But if Max can't go home, Donnie will have to build a dimensional portal or something! Right?" Mikey asked.

"I don't know, Mikey. We're still not completely sure about Max being in a different dimension." Don sighed and kept trying to find an answer on his computer.

"I think you need a rest, Donnie" Leo said and looked at him. "You've been working with that computer for hours."

I saw Master Splinter coming out of his room after meditating. He walked slowly towards us and said: "Max. I have a few words that I want to share with you."

I nodded politely and followed him to his room. It was beautiful and cleaner than it should've been for a rat. I looked curiously around, but there was one picture of a man that I couldn't stop looking at. _Master Yoshi,_ I thought and looked at Splinter. It must've been hard to lose someone so close to him.

Master Splinter sat down, and asked for me to sit down as well. I did what I was told, and he began to say: "I have meditated a lot, since you came to be here. When my sons appeared with you, I was meditating on my Master Yoshi. All this time I was meditating after that day, I have found out that there is a connection between you and my beloved Master."

He stopped talking and looked over at the picture with Master Yoshi. I had no idea what he was talking about. Connection between me and Master Yoshi? That was the weirdest thing I've ever heard before. How could there be a connection between us? Wasn't that kind of... impossible now that I was trapped in another dimension where everything was different? I just felt so sure about it.

"I can see that you look very confused, Max" Master Splinter interrupted my thoughts.

I nodded and said: "Yeah. I don't understand how there could be a connection between me and Master Yoshi. I seems… I don't know, weird."

"The answer is meditating," Splinter said as I thought he would. "Start meditating, and you will find out very soon."

He closed his eyes and so did I. I tried to do what he wanted me to do, but I had always found it difficult to focus. Of course I had meditated before when I was training with Master Splinter, but it seemed impossible right now. I was too confused and sort of stressed to do that. What if I'd never get to see my family again? What if I was trapped in this dimension forever? What if…

"You have to focus," Master Splinter said, like he was reading my mind or something. I opened my eyes half, and saw him with still closed eyes and totally concentrated. I took a deep breath and started all over again. This time I tried even harder to get all my other thoughts in another direction, and started to focus on Master Yoshi. _Master Yoshi…_

I opened my eyes and to my big surprise I was home! I was in my room, sitting on my lovely and warm bed with my laptop and with some snacks next to me. But I had no idea what was going on, so I decided to take the stairs down to the living room. I saw my sister, that was 5 years older than me, sitting on a chair with her own laptop, but strangely my dad was nowhere to be found.

"Hey Lucy!" I said and got her attention. "Where's dad?"

"He didn't tell you anything?" she asked and got me confused.

"No..? Where is he?"

"He said he would drive to the airplane to bring mom home."

"Oh… Okay then."

I felt stupid, but I had no idea what she was talking about. _The airplane?_ I thought. Just the second I wanted to ask what she was talking about, I heard the door locked open and someone coming in.

Lucy and I headed to the door and saw my mom and dad in the doorway.

"Hey mom!" Lucy said and hugged mom. "How was it? We've missed you so much!"

My mom laughed and said: "Well, I've missed you too!" She turned at me and said. "Hi Max! How are you, dear?"

She embraced me, but she felt distant. Like she wasn't there.

Now I knew what was going on. I recollected the time where she went to travel. She had to do it a lot, since her work was about all that kind of stuff.

"Look what I have for you." She opened her hands and I saw a necklace with a black lace and a silver symbol. It was some kind of Japanese letters, I reckoned. I had no idea what it meant, but it was cool anyways.

Thanks mom," I said and took the necklace from her hand. She smiled and clapped me on my shoulder, while she looked at me with her beautiful green eyes. I remember that was like… two years ago. Man, time had gone fast.

I shook and opened my eyes for real this time. Master Splinter looked curiously at me and said: "Did you find out something, Max?"

I felt the necklace on my skin, that was behind my T-shirt. It felt heavier than it should have. I took it out and looked happily at it. "This necklace is from Japan. It probably has to do something with Master Yoshi."

"Yes, indeed." Master Splinter stared deeply at it and continued: "Do you know what these symbols mean?" I shook my head, and he continued anyway: "Honor. These Japanese letters mean honor."

For every second the whole thing made more and more sense to me. "And honor was really important to Master Yoshi," I said while Master Splinter nodded.

I got it. _I_ wasn't the one that was linked up to Master Yoshi. The necklace was.


	4. Fiction or reality

When I came out of Splinter's room, Donnie was at the computers, Mikey was playing video games, Leo was training and Raph was watching television. He noticed me when I came back and said: "Hey, wanna watch some TV?"

I shrugged my shoulders, and he took up the remote control and switched through the channels. I walked over to TV's and sat on the sofa, when of course Mikey appeared and asked: "Whatcha doin'?"

"What does it look like, bonehead?" Raph sighed and shook his head.

"Watching TV" I said, giving him a real answer. "Wanna join us?"

"Sure I do!" Mikey smiled brightly, bringing a pack of popcorn and bumped heavily on the couch. With his mouth full of popcorn he annoyed Raphael by saying: "I just love TV! Don't you too, Raph?"

Raph sighed even louder this time and said: "Now I'm never gonna get rid of him!"

When the channel 'News TV' appeared, both Raph and Mikey stopped up and listened. I personally thought watching the news was boring.

 _"... And again the city is saved by the Justice Force!"_ came through the television.

"And of course the Turtle Titan!" Mikey said proudly and continued: "Who's an awesome member of the Justice Force!"

Raphael was about to say something again, when Donatello yelled: "Guys, guys! Hurry up, you have to see this!"

Raph, Mikey and I left the TV turned on, while Leo quit his training, and then we all ran over to Donnie and were ready for what he had to show us.

"What is it, Don?" Leo asked.

"I was able to finally find something about us! I managed to hack into this computer system, and I think it has to do something with Max, because this is what came up when I typed 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' for the 253th time!"

"You seriously counted how many times you typed that?" Raph looked weird at Donnie.

"Who cares, dude!" Mikey said. "Look at all that stuff!"

I looked at Donnie's computer screen, and in all that time I had tried to show them the things I knew, came up. Thousand of pictures, websites, videos…

"Whoa…" They all gawked.

"Now who are those guys?" Leo asked and pointed at a picture of the TMNT from the 2012 TV-show.

"You," I said. "From another dimension, I guess."

"Hey!" Raph said excited. "Who remembers these goofballs?" He pointed at a picture from TMNT 1987.

"And the others," Don said while pointing at a picture from the original TMNT comics and kept scrolling more down.

"You said there was TV-series about us, right?" Leo asked me and I nodded. "Then try searching for the episodes, Donnie!"

Don typed some stuff with the series and episodes, and then he found a YouTube video.

"Wow, look at that!" Leo said while Donnie clicked on it. It was the 2nd episode of season 1 in the TMNT series. _Their_ series. And the video started playing. At first they were all silent, even throughout the theme song, but then...

"That was when we found our new lair!" Leo said excited. "Sensei! Come look at this!" He yelled and waited for Master Splinter to come.

"You should start seeing the 1st episode first…" I said, but nobody seemed to hear me. They were too freaked out about their own TV-show.

Master Splinter came out of his room, and found out what we all were watching. He also looked really surprised and said: "This is quite interesting. It is everything you told us about, Max."

"I'm so gonna watch this show. It looks awesome!" Mikey said. "And now when I think about it… I'm pretty good looking!"

"I can't believe it!" Raph said. "I-It's like… watching a movie... about ourselves!"

"Max were right about all this stuff," Donnie said, while pressing the 'back' button, and went back to the first page. "We really are famous where he lives."

"The weird thing is… how do they know all this from? How do they know we live in the sewers and how do they know everything that has happened to us?" Leo wondered and scratched his head.

"This could also be very dangerous," Splinter pointed out. "If somebody goes to the place where Max lives, they could know everything about us just by watching these episodes."

"Do you actually watch these series, Max?" Leo asked and looked at me.

"Uh…" I answered. "Well, sometimes. I guess."

"So you know every single thing about us?" Raph asked.

"Kind of…" I replied.

"And you know everything that has occurred us?" Donnie looked curiously. This time I nodded.

"Talk about getting stalked!" Raph said while staring at me.

"This is the weirdest thing. Ever." Mikey admitted. "But we should start seeing it!" Then he pushed Donnie off his chair so he fell down on the ground, and asked: "Mind if I borrow your computer for a while?"

"Uh… Yeah, actually! I'm not..." Donnie couldn't finish what he wanted to say, when Mikey interrupted him by saying: "Didn't think so! Thanks, Donnie."

"... finished yet." Donnie completed his sentence.


	5. Taking action

I didn't know why I abruptly got into this dimension. I had no clue when and how I was going home. And I definitely had no idea what I was even doing here. But I guess I was here to find out.

"I believe you are soon going home," Master Splinter said, concentrated and with his eyes closed. "Yes. I can feel it."

"What?!" I asked, having no idea how someone could ever feel something like that. "How?"

We sat in front of each other in Splinter's room and meditated, to find out the whole mystery behind this. According to Master Splinter, meditating didn't only calm your thoughts and soul, but also helped you to find answers to questions, that felt impossible to answer. It sounded silly to me, but I still believed him. I knew he had a bunch of experiences with it.

"It seems like you are fading away." Master Splinter took a deep breath, held it in two seconds, then breathed out.

I gazed at him. _How?_ I thought. _How could that be possible?_ I shook my head. All this stuff was hurting my brain, and I just couldn't figure it out. Of course I have never been the smart one, so that was obvious.

"Calm your thoughts. Let them slip in and out. Close your eyes."

I sighed, and did what I was told. I remember the first times I'd tried to meditate and it didn't turn out so well. I was too unfocused, and I thought it was boring. But now I felt like I had it under control. As Master Splinter said, I let my thoughts slip in and out of my head, so it looked more organized and better. I started focusing on merely _one_ thing...

I opened my eyes, but I sure had no idea where the heck I was. I just knew I was standing in the middle of the street, and it looked fairly modern. But It didn't look like New York… Or even the USA.

 _Maybe I should ask someone…_ My thoughts suggested.

"Um… sorry?" I said to a random person, but he ignored me completely and went straight off.

"What a dork," I mumbled to myself. "Whatever. I'm just gonna find and ask another person.

I saw a woman coming near me, and when she was close enough, I said: "Excuse me? Could you..." But she ignored me as well, and only continued walking her own direction.

"Hey!" I shouted after her, but she didn't even turn around.

Then I started waving to different people, but strangely no one looked at me. Like I wasn't there!

I thought that I probably had to do something embarrassing to get people to notice me, so I began acting and dancing like a monkey. I got tired after doing it for a while, because not even _one_ person looked at me.

Then I started screaming and yelling from my lungs fullest strength. _That's totally gonna work!_ My thoughts convinced me, but still not a single person glanced at me.

"What's wrong with this place?!" I asked myself loudly, and started walking, when it felt like I had walked straight into something. But when I looked to see what hit me, there was nothing.

"Ow," I laid a hand on my forehead. "What the…"

"It is a force field. You cannot walk through it."

"Master Splinter!" I said, relieved. I hadn't even realized he had stood right next to me the whole time.

"What's going on?" I asked. "Where are we? Why does…"

He held his hand upward, and I knew that meant I should be silent, so I immediately stopped asking questions.

"We are in the past. That is the reason why every human does not notice us." He took his hand down and looked at me with his serious eyes.

"Oh, I get it!" I said and looked around once more. "But I mean… where are we? This doesn't look like home."

"You already know where we are." Sensei was being extremely mysterious. I looked weird at him and asked: "I do?"

I looked around again. I started noticing the people, the signs, the cars… We were in Japan.

As I looked through the street and the people, I saw someone that I surely recognized.

 _What?_ I thought. _No way!_

My mom stood about 3-4 meters away from me, and she was with her coworkers, studying some kind of artwork. They were looking at old pictures, drawings, paintings… I attempted to run over to her, but I unluckily hit the force field again.

"Mom! Over here!" I yelled and waved my hands, but then I remembered that I was in the past, and no one could neither see me nor hear me.

I twisted my head around to see Master Splinter, but... he was gone! I couldn't catch sight of him.

"Master Splinter?!" I shouted, but I heard naught. I called his name again, but there was still no sign of him. "Argh, damn! Why does this have to be so… complicated?!

I continued watching my mom, as she suddenly looked at the ground and stooped and took something up. I couldn't exactly see what it was, but whatever it was, it made her glad.

 _"This is beautiful,"_ I heard her voice reverberate in my head. _"I have to take it with me home!"_

Suddenly my vision turned all black, and I opened my eyes right away. Splinter opened his eyes too, and I immediately asked: "Where were you, Master Splinter? Suddenly you were all gone! What happened?!"

Splinter looked at me and said: "Someone was pulling me away. I had no other choice, but to leave."

I didn't say anything, but waited for him to explain everything that happened. But maybe I was the one that should begin explaining what happened...

"I saw my mom," I started out. "She and her coworkers were studying some ancient Japanese artwork. Then she took something up from the ground. I don't exactly know what it was, but I have a feeling it was the necklace."

Master Splinter nodded and said: "It could possibly be true. I was with my beloved Master Yoshi again. He was walking down the same street 16 years ago, when a person jogged him. Abruptly the necklace around his neck fell to the ground, but he did not notice. It sank into the ground and vanished forever."

"So the necklace was really Master Yoshi's?" I asked confused. "But how could that even be possible? How can a simple normal necklace sink into the ground?"

"Perhaps it is better if we do not know," Master Splinter said wisely.

"But I have to know!" I whined. "The necklace probably sank into my dimension… but how? I just don't…"

"It is enough for today," Splinter said, and he apparently wanted me to leave. I sighed, but stood up and walked towards the door. When I exited the room, I made sure to close the door after me.

I heard a really familiar female voice, so I looked up to see who it was. I couldn't help but smile a bit, and I began to walk over to them.

"Oh hey, Max!" Donnie said. The others spotted me too, and April said: "Hi, I'm April! The guys told me about you…" I shook hands with her and said: "Hey, April. I kind of know you already… I mean, I've watched the series and stuff…"

"Oh, of course," she smiled.

"Yo kid, I'm Casey! Guess you know me too, don't ya?" He gave me a fist bump, as I said: "Yeah, I know you too, Casey. Nice to meet you guys."

A moment of silence came through our little conversation, when Leo said: "We're going out Max, but you and April can stay here if you want."

"I'm coming too," April said. "I wanna make Master Splinter's training to good use!"

"Okay, but you'll stay here for your own safety." Leo clapped on my shoulder, and they began running to the exit.

"Let's kick some shell!" I heard Raph's voice.

I really desired to go with them too. I didn't get why I had to stick around here. I mean, what could possibly happen?

 _Whatever,_ I thought and made my way to the couch. I sat down, turned on the television and switched through the channels. News? No thanks. Horror movies? No way! Reality shows? Guess not. Documentary? Nah.

It felt like an hour, and they still hadn't returned. I couldn't take being so bored anymore, so I thought about a really, really dumb idea.

I stood up, but Master Splinter appeared and when he realized I was the only one around, he asked: "Have you seen my sons, Max?"

"Yeah," I responded. "They're out with Casey and April. I think they wanna find out what the Purple Dragons are up to."

"Ah, I see." Splinter walked to the kitchen, and when he came out, he had a plate with two cookies on it. "Care for some cookies?" He asked and smiled.

They seemed very yummy, but I thanked no anyway and said: "I think you should owe this." I opened my necklace and gave it to him. "It was Master Yoshi's, and I think you're the one who should have it."

"It is very kind of you Max, but I do not…" I interrupted Master Splinter by saying: "Anyway, I need to go to the bathroom!" I walked fast in the direction of the bathroom, but when Master Splinter sat down on the couch, with the remote control in his hand, I used my stealth training to exit the lair right away. I just hoped I didn't get lost in the sewers again…


	6. Fading away

_What a relief,_ I thought when I made it to New York's good old street. Just a little different from what I was used to.

I noticed April's '2nd time around', but it was closed of course. I just had one problem… where were they? It was dark and I couldn't see very clearly. Unexpectedly, I stepped on a cat's tail, and it whined and ran into two trash cans, that stood in the middle of the way. It gave an enormous sound, but after some seconds, the place turned wholly silent again.

"Whops… Sorry cat!" I whispered and thought: _I definitely need more stealth training…_

I kept walking down the street, but there was no sign of them anywhere. I was soon giving up. Maybe they were right. Maybe I really should've stayed in the lair. Maybe I just wasn't ready…

I stopped at once and listened. It sounded like a falling trashcan, but far away, and it didn't sound like a cat was behind it this time. I started spurting until I came near a small alleyway and heard some voices. I tried to calm my fast breathing and secretly looked down the alleyway. My eyes had gotten used to the dark night, so it was easy for me to see that they were the Purple Dragons. No wonder. They were dragging some heavy-looking boxes into a truck, and I knew this couldn't be good. But where were Leo, Raph, Don, Mike, April and Casey? Shouldn't they be here by now? I didn't know if I could take them down on my own… there were too many of them, and I wasn't _that_ good at Ninjutsu yet. But did I have a choice? At least I could _try_ to stop them…

"Hurry up, you little pricks!" That was definitely Hun's voice. "We don't have the whole night!"

I took the chance, jumped out of the shadows and burst out in a hero kind of way: "Not so fast!" I had no weapons, I was all alone and I had only learned a little amount of ninja-training. I felt brave, but very stupid at the same time.

"Get him!" I heard Hun's voice say, and I easily dodged the first attacks, but somehow they managed to push me up against the wall and hold my arms and legs. My elbow hurt, and I couldn't move my body or anything. _Perfect,_ I thought. _Just perfect._

Hun laughed and so did some of the other Purple Dragons. "So, this was your idea of a fight? Look at yourself. How pathetic!"

He took out his pocket knife and snapped: "Now that you're here… Give me all your money." He walked straight towards me and pointed the knife at my throat. "Or you'll pay… not with your money, but with your life." He whispered.

"Uh…" I said and hesitated. "I don't have any cash?"

I felt the blood from my throat started swimming down, as he pressed the knife more and more against my throat. The blood went more down, I could feel it on my chest.

"Seriously!" I said. "I don't have any money. Just let go and I'll show you."

"Let him go!" I heard a familiar voice saying. It was Leo and the other guys.

 _This is embarrassing…_ I thought. _But great timing!_

The Purple Dragons just stared at them and didn't do anything.

"Didn't you hear it the first time?" Mikey said and at once they started attacking.

"Max!" Don shouted at me, while he kicked one of them in the stomach. "You were supposed to stay in the lair!"

"I know!" I said, trying to escape. "But…" I didn't know what to say. Some of the Purple Dragons still held me really hard, so I found it difficult to lose their grip. Hun still hadn't entered the action, he just let the others do the job. In all this chaos, he just removed his knife from my throat, held me by my dirty T-shirt and said: "So… should we finish this?"

I breathed heavily and didn't answer. I hadn't given up trying to escape, so I still struggled to get loose of their grip. When it didn't work, I started becoming angry and clenched my fists. I didn't say anything, but just glowered directly at Hun.

"Okay…" he continued with his raspy and creepy voice. "Let's get rid of you." The only thing I saw was a clenched fist against my face, before everything became black.

I couldn't see anything, it was just plain black. I couldn't even hear my own breathing or my heart beating. But I knew it was beating really fast.

I really struggled to open up my eyes, but no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't. It felt like forever, until I heard something. It sounded sharp in my ears, and it didn't stop. It was like someone screaming in my ear, but somehow it also sounded like it came from far off.

"Max?" I heard someone calling me. The screaming didn't stop, but it became more and more distant. "Max? Can you hear me?" I wanted to answer, but I couldn't open my mouth, just like I couldn't spread up my eyes.

"You're right, Master Splinter" I heard another voice saying. "He really is fading away."

"What a bonehead!" An aggressive voice echoed in my head. "Why the shell did he even go out, when Leo told him not to?!"

"He could've just played one of my video games, if he was bored…" I recognized the voices. All of them.

"I don't think anyone would want to play one of your stupid games, Mikey." I waited for the voices to be clear, but it never happened.

"I believe this is yours, Max." This voice sounded familiar too. "You are destined to have it."

After a short silence, the second voice I had heard said: "Um, I don't know if you can hear us Max, but I guess this is it. Maybe we'll..." The voice started to fade away and so did the annoying screaming in my ears.

Everything turned silent again, until I realized I could open my eyes again. I quickly spread up my eyes, but my vision was currently blurred.

"He's awake!" I heard another familiar voice. "Max, can you hear me? Max?!"

I looked around, and it dawned upon me, that I was definitely in the hospital. My dad and sister were staring excited at me. I was shocked.

"I'm back!" I burst out and looked around once more just to be sure.

"You've been in coma for a few days," my dad told me. "You just woke up! Who did this to you?"

"Where was I found?" I asked and ignored his questions. I needed to know it what was going on. All this felt weird.

"In the sewers!" My sister said. "No offense, but you really stank like crap. It was so disgusting!" Then she smiled. "But I'm glad you're back little brother! You scared the heck out of us."

"But I..." I stopped myself and started searching for the necklace. Last time I remembered, I gave it to Master Splinter, but right now I felt the heaviness around my neck. I took it out from behind my T-shirt and felt sad. Maybe everything that had happened to me wasn't real. Maybe I had just imagined it… but strangely, it had felt so real! How could this even be possible?

"But you what?" My dad asked, and I realized I had stopped in the middle of my sentence.

"Nevermind…" I just answered.


	7. The end?

It had been a few days since my last talk with the TMNT. I had been sent home from the hospital, and tomorrow morning I was ready to start school again.

Although it had made me a little sad that all the time I had spent time with Leo, Mike, Don, Raph and Master Splinter and even the little time with April and Casey had just been something I had imagined.

I shook my head. There had to be _something._ All this just couldn't make sense in my brain.

I opened the necklace and dropped it on the floor. I wanted it to sink into the ground, but nothing happened, as I expected. I did it a lot of times, and I did it differently each time, but it just didn't work. In the end, I put the necklace around my neck again, sighed and closed my eyes.

 _Let's just see what tomorrow will bring,_ my thoughts said to me, as they drifted away into the darkness.

"Wake up!" Someone knocked on my door. "Time to get ready for school!"

I yawned, rubbed my eyes and stood up. I tiredly changed my clothes and walked down the stairs to get some breakfast. I just hated waking up early in the morning.

"Good morning," my dad said with a huge smile. "Have you slept well?"

"Mornin'," I mumbled and didn't answer his question. I just took some cornflakes and milk, walked over to the table and bumped myself on the chair.

"You look tired!" My sister commented, as she took a bite from her bread. "You should see yourself. You look like someone that's about to drop his head into his breakfast!"

I just ignored her. She knew I was always angry in the morning.

When I was done eating, I brushed my teeth as fast as I could, put on my jacket and lifted up my heavy school bag full of books. I took one last look in the mirror, and thought: _I'm_ _good to go._

As I went over to the door to get out, my dad said: "Be careful, Max. What if those street gangs…"

"I'll be careful. See ya!" I didn't let him finish his sentence, because I felt I was going to be late for school. I went outside to the chilly weather, grabbed my bike and cycled as fast as I could.

I inhaled the fresh fall air, when I arrived to the schoolyard. Hopefully I wasn't late, so I sure took my time, as I walked towards the entrance.

"Dude!" I heard someone saying. At first I thought it was someone else, but as the person walked over to me, I realized that it was just one of my good friends, Jonas.

"What's up? I heard you were beaten up by those Yellow Snakes and were sent to the hospital! Are you okay?" He looked worried, and I just smiled and said: "Hey, Jo. Yeah, I'm fine. Now."

He gave me a fist bump and asked: "Is it just me, or do you always run into trouble?"

"I have no idea," I said, shrugging my shoulders. "But… can you keep a secret?" I didn't know if I should say it. After all, he was my only and best friend, but I wasn't sure if it was a good idea...

"You know me!" He wanted to make sure he could be trusted.

I sighed and began saying: "I saw the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Seriously, you gotta believe me. I know you might think I'm weird and stuff, but I saw them and talked to them and everything!"

I waited a few seconds for Jonas to answer. At first he really looked weird at me, but then he cracked up laughing. "You and your weird jokes! Maybe you've just watched too much of that show. Come on, let's go or we'll be late."

"I'm serious!" I said, as we continued walking. "You have to believe me." But then I shook my head and stopped trying to make him believe me. Seriously, who would ever believe me?

I was deep in my thoughts, as someone pushed me hard, so I fell to the ground.

"Ow…" I said, as I endeavored to get up.

"Look where you're going, you big ape!" The ones that had pushed said to me, as they continued walking their own path.

Jo gave me a hand and helped me up from the cold ground. "What happened, man?" He asked. "You were like totally…"

"Wait a second," I said frightened and started searching for my necklace. "Wh… where is it?"

"Uh… where's what?" He had no idea what I was talking about, but I had no time to explain. I had to find it.

I looked everywhere, but there was absolutely no sign of it. It was gone. There was nothing on the ground.

Suddenly something like a sharp, white light took over the entire place. I couldn't see anything, but my necklace that was sinking into the ground. On the ground, above the necklace, a sentence was written.

Portal closes in 10 seconds. 

Portal closes in 9 seconds. 

Portal closes in 8 seconds. 

Portal closes in 7 seconds.

I gawked. I couldn't believe it… I took the chance and put my hand on the ground near the necklace. Weirdly, my hand was sinking and sinking more into the ground, but I took it up as fast as I could again. I hesitated a lot and didn't know what to do…

Portal closes in 4 seconds. 

If I went through, I could possibly see the turtles, Master Splinter, April and Casey again. Should I? It was great seeing them and just chilling with them. I could learn more Ninjutsu and maybe even become professional. It would be so different and exciting in that world.

Portal closes in 1 seconds.

But maybe I would go to a whole different dimension. I couldn't take the risk, although I really wanted to see the others again.

Portal closes in 0 seconds.

In all of the sudden, the sharp light around me disappeared. I looked around. Everything was normal again, but the necklace was gone forever. Maybe somebody would find it and learn the secret behind it.

"Um… Max, what are you doing?" I looked up at Jonas, and I realized I had been sitting on the ground the whole time. The few people in the schoolyard were looking weird at me, but they kept walking their way.

I quickly stood up and looked awkwardly at Jo. "Uh… nothing. I'm not doing anything. Let's just go to class before we're late."

"We're already late, you dumb idiot. I had to watch you stare at the ground!"

We started running towards the entrance. I couldn't believe the necklace was a dimension portal. That was why it had felt so special to me. I knew that people wouldn't believe me if I told them that I had met TMNT, but that was okay. I was just happy that I knew I had met them and it all wasn't just some kind of a weird dream. It was reality.


End file.
